This September 1st show, which took place at the Saenger Theatre in New
Orleans, Louisiana, was the kickoff of comedianne Margaret Cho's
"Notorious C.H.O." stand-up tour. I had no idea that I was right in the
middle of Southern Decadence (a massive gay and lesbian festival in New
Orleans), but quickly figured it out when a 6'4' African-American
"woman" named "Ms. Dr. Vaginal Cream Davis", who claimed to be from
"Africa-Germany" as well as being a "Celtic-African-Wiccan-Sorceress"
took the stage as the tour's opener. Dr. Davis performed a few songs
from her album, "The White to Be Angry" (interestingly enough produced
by Steve Albini who worked with PJ Harvey and Nirvana), as well as
"shrimping" (the sucking of toes as a sexual act) an innocent man from
the audience. In between songs, Ms. Davis ate a combination of
"Macrobiotic Aunt Jemima Light Syrup from Macedonia", whipped cream,
and maraschino cherries from between the audience member's toes. This,
she said, was a virginal sacrifice to some of the more important
goddesses of ancient Greece: Chlamidya, Anal Wartease, Syphilis, and
Gonorrhea. After parading around in her American flag dress, flipping
her long blonde "hair" numerous times, and revealing her sequined
American flag-print thong, she left the stage. A mess. Margaret Cho
took the stage moments later. After gratefully accepting the gift of an
"Anal Pleasures Butt-Plug" from an adoring fan, she began to work the
crowd with her unique blend of style, simple grace, and childlike
charm. Her routine, often centering on topics like the gay and lesbian
community, womanhood, weight problems, and what it's like to be an
Asian-American, was a series of sometimes hilariously exaggerated and
sometimes touching stories. Between anecdotes about her (usually
embarrassing) sexual experiences and impressions of her mother, Ms. Cho
often offered bits of genuine, inspirational advice. One got the idea
that this wasn't just some comedy act, but the keynote address
delivered to a group so wildly different that they could only be
classified by their status as being "outside society." In fact, the
final part of her show, just before her encore, was a call for a
"revolution" that enabled you to "love yourself and others without
restraint-unless you're into S&M-then by all means, use restraints"
was "long, long overdue." The feelings of pride, happiness, and
acceptance that flowed between the self-proclaimed "fag hag" and her
audience were almost palpable, making this far more than your average
stand-up routine.